Murderous Intent
by Kurmoi
Summary: After DOA3. She has received her mission briefing, in black and white. What she hasn't received is the information that her life is about to be completely turned upside down. What happens when the seducer becomes the seduced?
1. An assassin's duet

Kurmoi is under the curse. Watch the plot bunny… watch it… ooh, new bunny! –chases after it- Hope it's not anything like Ayane's bunny in Selfish Desires… -shudders- Anyway. Here is the result of my cute fluffy bunny. (It's the sugar, guys, the sugar) Introducing an(other) new story, with an all-new coupling! Yay!

I sound like some television commercial. That's bad. Ryu is good. Hope you like the story thus far!

Oh, warning... short chapters for this story. It is supposed to be a **short **story. But we'll see...

* * *

Even as she pulled up on the side of the road, she knew that this job was going to be harder then most. Why it was so important to Donovan, she didn't know, but didn't question it. He was her employer. She was supposed to set his plans in motion, not question his every motive. Even still, it did make her wonder. This job was unlike any other she had had.

She had received the briefing just a few days earlier in her hotel suite. The wonders of modern technology. So much for her time off. Now here she was, in suburban Japan, trying to locate a certain building without much success. Here she was, a notorious assassin… who couldn't find her target's house. She muttered a curse under her breath, glancing down at the piece of paper in her hand. _It was supposed to be just around here… _

Suddenly, she noticed a small apartment block, almost obscured by a large, somewhat unsightly hotel. She looked at the paper once more. _This was it. About bloody time, too. _

She took a deep breath. This job, as well as being unlike any other, was also much more difficult then her previous tasks. Entering the house of another assassin?

Shoving a hand in the pocket of her trenchcoat, she pulled out another piece of paper. The briefing. She scanned it quickly, double-checking. Those dreaded words were still there, in black and white. Seduce him.__

_Why the hell do I have to seduce him to kill him? _She had asked Donovan not long after receiving the details. _What's wrong with just shooting him dead?_

_Use your brain, _he had retorted. _He's an assassin, just as you are. If you do a surprise attack, there's a fifty-fifty chance. And we don't want to lose our best assassin. It's the only way that you'll be able to get close enough to kill him, low risk. _

Even still, it didn't answer the question of why. Why was one man, not even related with DOATEC in any way, so important that Donovan wanted him dead? She shrugged. Not her place to ask. It never had been. All those people she had killed, it had always been for the company. And employees didn't need to know the reasons. They just did the job.

She checked her reflection in the window one last time. Hair, normally a platinum colour, dyed black to blend in. To the Japanese, she was just another dark-haired person. Yeah, right. Her hair was purposely longer then it had been the last time she had seen him, nearly touching her shoulders.

Her musings were interrupted as the door to the building she was watching opened and her target stepped out. She smiled icily, ducking behind a pole. Just as he stepped onto the footpath, she came out subtly, 'accidentally' running into him, dropping her folio. Papers spilled all over the pathway.

"I do apologise, miss," his soft voice caught her ear as he collected the papers into a neat pile and handed them back to her. "I wasn't watching where I was going…"

"Oh, that's no problem at all," she purred, voice a smooth contralto. She took the papers and tucked them back into her folder. "Thankyou for being such a gentleman,"

He nodded politely to her and was about to continue when she took hold of his arm, tight enough for her nails to dig into his flesh. "May I ask why you are in such a hurry, good sir? Actually, I was wondering…" she drifted off, voice a purposeful flirtatious tone.

He paused. She had to resist laughing out loud. What a fool. "You see, I just arrived here from Osaka, and I have no idea where anything is around here. You don't suppose you could show me to an eatery? Haven't eaten since the train ride,"

Silence for a moment, before he spoke, the constant movement of his fingers being the only thing to give away anything that he was feeling. "I suppose I could do that for you, considering I walked into you. What sort of eatery are you interested in?"

"…Western…?" she blurted out. She hadn't thought about that. He gave her a bemused look, before gesturing for her to follow him, which she did. Her eyes were on him as she followed behind him. An assassin, yet didn't know that the person he was assisting, and the person also standing behind him was as adept in the art of killing as he was. What a fool.


	2. Unmasked

Of _course _we know who the assassin is! I am writing it, aren't I?

Okay… I'm sorry. But he would come in somewhere else. You just know he would.

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Soon enough, they were standing outside a western restaurant. "Here you are,"

"Thankyou again, sir. You don't suppose that I could ask you to lunch to make up for my rudeness?" she asked politely, again with the undertone of amour. He thought about it for a split second, before shaking his head.

"I apologise, my presence is expected elsewhere. I thank you for your offer, however,"

"Shame," she dropped her head, seemingly downcast. "After all, I'm in your debt because of your kindness, it would be the least I could do…"

Another pause. _He really doesn't want to offend me, does he? _She thought to herself as he reluctantly nodded and sat down opposite her. _Oh well, makes my job that much easier. _

"So," she started conversationally when realising that he wouldn't be saying anything in the near future. "Tell me a little about yourself. Name?"

He gave her a look that told her that he could figure that something was odd about her but didn't know what it was. "I am Ryu. And you are…?"

"Chieko Taniguchi. Pleased to meet you," she stuck out a hand, and to her surprise, he took it. His handshake was firm but not dominating. Even as she mused over that, she noted how he didn't give her a last name. Not that she needed one, but she saw that he was being cautious with how much he did divulge. "Nice area around here. Suburbia, but not too busy,"

He nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Ah, excuse me. Do you want a drink or anything?"

Pause. "Water will be fine, thankyou,"

A waiter soon came over. "We're still looking. Could we have a water and a glass of white wine in the interim, please?" she asked. The waiter nodded and disappeared, soon coming back with the requested drinks. She took a sip of the wine. "Delicious. Not a drinker?"

"Rarely," was the answer. Simple and to the point. Much the way she would normally answer, but couldn't as Chieko, anyway. "What brings you to this area?"

"I'm a live-for-the-moment sort of person, and I wanted a change from Osaka. So I moved here, basically. Simple as that,"

_Damn, I hate acting like Chieko. She has to talk too much. I know I would have to anyway to collect information and all, but… it's so exhausting and petty. Stupid ridiculous conversation… a total waste of time. Forget about relationships. We all die, anyway, so what's the point in spending your life pleasing someone else?_

Ryu shifted slightly, and with a start she realised that he was seating himself in a perfect position to draw down on her with.

_He's realised that something's up already? Wait, no, I'm probably reading too much into this. Besides, ninjas are all traditional, etcetera. He wouldn't carry a gun._

"So," she started in an attempt to clear the uncomfortable silence. "You live around here?"

He shot her a bemused look. "You know I do. We collided outside my house, remember?"

_Shit! We did too! I'm losing track! Bloody Chieko!_

She tossed her head carelessly in an attempt to distract him. "Well, I'm just an average girl… an average girl with a pretty bad memory,"

A cold emerald gaze was her response. "I can see that,"

"That's just rude!" she exclaimed before she could stop herself. _Oh well. Doesn't sound like me usually, so I guess that's alright. _"Do you always go around and insulting girls like that? No surprise to me if that's why you don't have a girlfriend,"

She was hoping for hurt, anger, or _something. _But she got nothing. Simply a cool stare.

"Perhaps that is so,"

"Not a people person, huh?" she tried fixing him with her best Chieko-stare.

_I think that came out cute, not to mention slightly squishy. Damn bloody Chieko._

No response. He simply removed his hand from the table to his hip.

_Shit! He can't be about to draw on me! Not in a restaurant!_

But she was disappointed. He simply pulled out something from his pocket, before glancing at it briefly, looking deeply into her eyes.

Not even the light blue contacts could veil the icy cold stare she knew that she shot back.

_Damn it all. Chieko is not my best acting job. _

"Do you have a problem, Miss Chieko?"

No, there was no way in hell she could mask that glare. "Not at all,"

He leaned closer to her, both elbows on the table. To anybody else, it looked as though they were in the process of something intimate. However, a quick flick of his wrist revealed a knife, which he held at her throat. The action was so discreet that if she had yelled, he could have easily hidden the knife and nobody would be any the wiser.

"Miss Chieko, I know that you are not who you say. Who are you and what do you want?"


	3. All too easy

Yahahaha. I so love being evil. It's so much fun!

Ryu is so cool! -swoon-

Uh, don't mind me. Just too much NGing, I think.The outfit... the hair! YAY!

Damn! And I was intending to not write anything about him in my author's notes, either!

Thanks for reviewing, as always. Enjoy!

* * *

She dearly wanted to reach for her own knife that she could feel holstered under her jacket, but knew that if Ryu was as well-trained as she was, that she would get nowhere near it.

"I am an innocent girl that happened to walk into you by mistake and asked you to lunch. I never knew that you would be holding a knife at my throat and completely disregarding my hospitality!" Her voice was an angry whisper. Getting attention would do nothing.

"You are not. What you are is a good actor,"

_Couldn't he ever speak in plain English? _"Fine, then," she sat up, reaching into her jacket slowly and carefully, groping around discreetly for the knife. "Who do you think I am?"

With a quick thrust, the knife was back at her throat, mere millimetres away. "Do not go for your weapon, Miss Chieko. I can have you done with and be gone before anybody realises that you are lying dead on the table. Answer my questions and I will not harm you,"

"I would rather _die _then answer anything," she hissed.

He levelled emerald green eyes on her. "You are an assassin. Christie, is it?"

_Holy shit! _Her brain began racing wildly, trying to think of something to say. _He's damn good! Donovan could use a man like this! _"Who is this Christie and what makes you think that she has anything to do with me? I ask you to lunch and you call me a murderer? What are you, insane? Just call me this Christie person out of the blue?"

He tossed long strands of hair away from his face so the eye contact effect was stronger. _Rather feminine move, that… _"You are an assassin. I've picked that up. Your stature is the same as Christie's. Hair and eyes are easy things to change. The DOATEC has been trying to assassinate me, for reasons I still do not know. Christie is an assassin that works for aforementioned company. You are carrying notes about me, for heaven's sakes. What are the odds that you are _not _Christie?"

The knife moved away from her neck, almost as though he was purposely giving her an opportunity to pull out her own weapon. A small smirk played on her lips for a second. She was not going to forfeit the chance.

"How the hell do you know my stature?"

_No use trying to feign it. Thanks for nothing, Chieko._

He raised an eyebrow, sipping at his water. "You are the same height as me. If your height was different, I probably would not have noticed it as readily. However, it is not every day that you find a Japanese woman standing at five feet ten, with non-Japanese features. It was then that I knew you were not who you said you were, Chieko Taniguchi,"

_Forget this. _Quick as a flash, she pulled out a gun.

"Put your hands up or die,"

He put the glass down, staring at her. "Why not kill me straight away? Is that not what your precious company wishes?"

The amount of malice the ninja held for DOATEC was startling, but she refused to let it deter her. "Put up your fucking hands. Now,"

Distantly, she heard screams and cries as the rest of the people in the restaurant realised what was going on. "Anyone calls the police and you all die!" she shouted. "Co-operate and nobody gets hurt! Move from where you are and die! Got it?"

Everybody stayed seated. In her peripheral vision, she noticed one happy camper who continued to eat their food and read the paper.

_Good on them. Hope your toast tastes as good with blood as it does with jam._

He still wasn't putting up his hands. He was simply staring at her, emerald eyes taunting her. 'Come and try it,' they were saying. She narrowed her eyes. She would try. And she would succeed.

She pulled the trigger.

An explosion of blood as the bullet connected with flesh.

The limp corpse fell to the floor. Instantly dead.

_All too easy…_


	4. Release

Yay! Short chapter!

Of course he's not dead. Where would my story go?

Anyway. That's it. Hope you enjoy, or if you don't, don't gag yourself with a spoon.

* * *

She looked at the corpse.

_…fuck._

"A poor assassin you must be if you go around killing innocent bystanders instead of your original target," a voice whispered almost sensually into her ear.

Ryu had somehow managed to dodge the bullet. It had hit a young man sitting at the table behind him. Now, Ryu was standing behind her. She heard the audible sound of a gun cocking, being flicked off safety, then cool metal against the back of her neck.

"Move and I will shoot you,"

_Sure, I'm fast. But I don't think I can dodge a bullet at this range. I don't even have enough time to bring up my own gun. I am well and truly dead. But I will not tell him a thing._

"What happened to ninjas and tradition?" she hissed, craning her neck as much as she could to glare at him with ice blue eyes. _At least for now, if I can ever get to take these damn contacts out. If I ever get a chance._

He thrust the gun further into her neck, enough to hurt. "Be quiet,"

Funny how when she was about to die she thought about her contact lenses. _I suppose most people would think about their family. Well, peachy for them. I have no family. The best thing for an assassin, I suppose._

"Well, go ahead," She was going to be obstinate until the end. "Shoot me,"

He jabbed her in the back with the gun. She flinched despite herself.

"Go. Get out of here, before the police find you,"

She couldn't veil her shock.

"What? You're just going to let me go?"

His voice was soft. "I don't want to kill you. Go now. Hurry,"

She didn't need it to be said again. Grabbing her gun, folder and jacket, she ran as fast as she could, without another backward glance.


	5. Second chances

One, two, three… GASP! No Ryu whatsoever. Well, he's mentioned, but no actual in-the-flesh Ryu. Oh no… Ryu withdrawal… uh oh…

Anyway, don't mind me and my Ryu withdrawal. Enjoy!

And go sexy Ryu in leather with gun. Yeah!

Oh, excuse the short chapter. It gets better, I promise. (The chapter length we are talking about here...)

* * *

"Donovan, he's good. He could be of use to us,"

Her boss raised his head to look at her. "As if he would be of use voluntarily. And non-voluntary use is useless use,"

"Donovan, you really should consider-"

"Be quiet!"

She fell silent immediately.

"Remember who is in charge here, Christie. But, because I value your instincts, I will consider your point. Try again. But don't kill him. Capture him. And do not fail me again. If you do, the consequences will be dire. You understand? Capture him. As soon as you do, I will send over scientists to help you. You have to do the capturing yourself,"

She narrowed her eyes maliciously as Donovan's gaze drifted from her face. "I will. I will seduce him and capture him for you. Sir,"

"Do not fail me again, Christie. You are not a bad assassin. Stop acting like one,"

Those words said more to her chest then her face.

"Stop looking at my chest. You are a professional. Start acting like one,"

Donovan stared up at her, her eyes. "Bold words. Remember that if you fail me once more. It will be you, asking me to stop. But I will not be so lenient with you next time,"

"There will not be a next time. I will capture the ninja and bring him back to you,"

"Good. You are dismissed,"

She left the room, not without a glare back at her employer.

_What a pathetic excuse for a human being. Staring at me like that. Dirty bastard._

_But then again… who am I to say what a human is? I kill humans. It's my job._

_Ah, Christie, you're so weak. Stop pondering the meaning of life and get on with it. A ninja out there needs capturing, and you have to do it. No room for stuff-ups this time._

_But he's so damn good. How am I going to do this without him catching on again?_

She clicked her fingers, walking back into Donovan's office without knocking.

"Donovan… sir. I need a Kasumi clone,"


	6. Blast from the Past

Still not much to say. Umm… how are you guys, anyway? Hope you're good. Anyway, no Ryu! Again! This is a tragedy! This is **BAD.** Where's he gone? I should be answering that, not you, but… oh well… I'll live… I think. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

_This? _This _is his legendary experiment that he had been working on for years?_

She stared back with malice at the clones. Figure after figure was curled up in tank after tank. She knocked on one of the tanks. The girl uncurled to look at her with big amber eyes.

"For god's sake, Donovan. Put some clothes on these poor clones,"

Donovan was fiddling with the readings on one of the tanks. "They need to be like this,"

_Yeah. For you to get something more then nothing, I bet. You dirty old bastard._

"Give me one. With some clothes, preferably,"

Soon enough, she and 'Kasumi' were walking down the street, the clone staring ardently at the clothes shops with big amber eyes.

"No," she instructed the clone much like one would instruct an animal. "You have other things to do rather then look at clothes,"

Everyone walked past, not suspecting a thing. Her hair was back to its original colour, as were her eyes. 'Chieko' was wanted around the city; however it had seemed that the 'tall, slender woman of Asian descent' had simply disappeared without a trace.

_What fools. They cannot even tell the difference between their own race and another._

As they continued walking, she heard something suspicious behind her and spun around.

Footsteps were heavy against the path as what looked to be a suspiciously familiar person ran off. Mentally cursing the fact that she was wearing high heels, she followed immediately, the Kasumi clone close behind her.

Considering he was a ninja, he wasn't using stealth. She could hear his feet breaking down bracken and crunching over leaves as he ran into the forest. She followed…

…only to come face to blade with a deadly-looking katana.

She looked over at the ninja who she had pursued through the city streets, hoping to see some sort of recognition there. But all she got was a cool stare from those… chocolate eyes.

_No, it wasn't him. _

A simple mistake had cost her dearly.

Slate grey eyes drifted deliberately slowly back to the katana-wielder. She had met him briefly in the last tournament, if her memory served her correctly. Hayate was his name.

'Kasumi' was behind, in a fighting position.

No time for talk. As Hayate held the blade unwaveringly at her throat, the other ninja lunged. The clone lashed out immediately, grasping the ninja's neck and pinning him to the ground, before letting fly with a powerful punch to his head. However…

By the time she heard the rustling of movement, it was too late. Hayate's blade had moved and was now neatly pierced through her clone's neck.

The clone stiffened briefly, before collapsing on the other ninja, soaking his clothes in crimson blood. The other ninja pushed the dead weight of the girl off him, standing up and making a face at his bloodied attire.

She quietly pulled out a gun, clicking off the safety, hiding it behind her back.

"Our task is finally complete. She can bring dishonour to our clan no more," Hayate said to the other ninja, who nodded. With one last glance at her, they departed.

"Kill my clone and _I _will bring your damn clan dishonour," she whispered, pulling the trigger twice. Once at the other ninja. Once at Hayate himself.

Both ninjas spun immediately. However, their reaction was slow, an opportunity upon which she sprung.

The other ninja fell to the ground, his head an exploded mess of blood and brains. She had managed to hit him directly in between the eyes as he turned around, a perfect shot, if she did say so herself.

Hayate, however, managed to just duck the bullet before it struck him. The speed of the bullet caused it to go _through _the thin tree trunk and out the other side.

A whistling through the air, and the next thing she knew was a searing pain in her gun-hand. She dropped the gun, looking down at the shuriken imbedded in her hand. The wound was not deep, but crippled her hand sufficiently.

_Note to self. Never again take on a ninja._

Pulling out the shuriken from her own flesh, she threw it back with lightning speed at him, catching him in the leg. He stumbled with the impact, throwing several more shuriken her way, which she managed to avoid. Dull 'thunks' were heard behind her as the shuriken imbedded themselves into the trees behind her head.

Finally, luckily, he ran out of shuriken.

She pulled out her gun slowly, meticulously with her left hand. He tried to stand, couldn't. With satisfaction, she noticed that she had thrown it hard enough, unlike him, who had been caught by surprise, for it to be irretrievable without the right sort of medical equipment which they didn't have. She smiled coldly. _With any luck, he won't be needing it, either._

"You arrogant fool," she hissed as he pulled himself to his feet with the aid of a tree. "You didn't even do what you wanted to do. That was just a clone,"

Hayate's eyes widened to a point that would have been comical in any other situation. "A clone?"

"Yes, idiot, a clone. You failed in your task. And what's more, you're not going to get to complete it, either,"

Golden brown eyes narrowed at her. "What-"

The bullet struck him in the stomach, sending him careening backwards into a tree. She holstered the still-smoking gun, glaring once more at the fallen ninjas. Hayate wasn't dead, but he would be soon.

_So much for that plan. Damn useless clone._


	7. Fiancée

This is my mass-update extraordinaire! MAN I hate my net connection when it doesn't work properly. Anyway, hoping that you actually _remember _this story, I'll keep on posting it. Enjoy!

* * *

She was now sitting at the hotel's bench, tapping away at her computer with an ever-increasing frown forming on her face.

_I can't go back to Donovan and ask him for another Kasumi clone. He won't be happy with me, to put it mildly… I wonder what else is in the files about Ryu? Maybe I can find something that would be of use, unlike that damn clone…_

She typed some more, as the information DOATEC had regarding Ryu scrolled across the screen.

Code A067: Ryu Hayabusa

Nationality: Japanese

Age: 23

Threat posed: Extreme

Ryu Hayabusa is known around Japan as the solitary super ninja, defeating the feared Tengu in the second Dead or Alive tournament. He is also believed to be a notorious assassin, although this has not been confirmed as of yet. His skills, although often masked are deadly. He stands in the way for the latest project to be successfully completed and therefore needs to be eliminated as soon as possible. A useful target for penetrating a weakness would be his long-term fiancée, Irene Lew, formerly of the CIA. Mission for his elimination currently being addressed.__

_He has a girlfriend? This should make things interesting. _It seemed odd to her that an assassin would have such an obvious weakness when people were obviously going to want him dead.

A mirthless chuckle escaped her lips. "Probably that little domestic side of him," she murmured to the computer screen, typing in something else.

More words scrolled across the screen. She scanned them, pursing her lips slightly as she digested the information.

Code H319: Irene Lew

Nationality: American

Age: 22

Threat posed: Low to moderate

Not much is known about Irene Lew at this stage, except that she is Ryu Hayabusa's long-term fiancée and an ideal target for getting through to him. She is a former CIA agent and at one stage worked for the CIA's chief head, Foster until her resignation. Her permanent location at this stage is believed to be the same residence as Ryu Hayabusa, although this has not been confirmed. However, it has been confirmed that she is not in the country currently, but will be returning to Japan on the 27th of August.

_So… she lives at Ryu's house? I have the address for that. So I can just waltz in dressed up like her and bring a gun, of course… the twenty-seventh... that's in three days or something. I can just say that she came back early or something like that. I detest playing dress-ups, but what else can I do? I have to kill him. I refuse to fail again._

Pushing the chair away from the desk, she got to her feet.

_Okay. Mission: To snoop around Ryu Hayabusa's house without being caught. This should be very, very interesting. He better be out…_

She had no idea where Ryu was, but nobody was home. She really was quite amused. Super ninja, seen by DOATEC as an extreme threat, yet left the window open. Almost as if he was _asking _for her to break in. _Damn. I hope that was Irene, not the ninja. _

_Anyway. _She looked around. Nice apartment, if nothing else. The only word that she could think of was 'safe'. Nothing overly extravagant, in colour or style. Not plain, but extremely safe. Nobody could be offended by the furniture or colour scheme, that was for sure.

On top of a mahogany mantelpiece, there was a single photo in a simple wooden frame. She picked it up and examined the photo carefully. A smiling woman, with blonde hair cut to a bob around jaw-line had her arms around Ryu's waist.

She barely recognised him. He looked so… different, from when she had seen him, either in the previous tournament or as of late. His very air seemed more relaxed and carefree.

Her eyes were drawn back to the bubbly blonde. Sapphire blue eyes, just visible in the photo. _Damn. Contact lenses… again… _The clothing was nothing out of the ordinary, at least. Even better, Irene looked to be the same height as Ryu, at least in that photo. Which meant that she was the same height as Irene, which meant her plan would work perfectly.

Replacing the photo on the mantle, she climbed out the window, not noticing a single piece of paper flutter out of her pocket and land on the floor.


End file.
